Your Brain May Be Blocking You From Losing Weight.

The European Congress on Obesity

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In this Independence Day vlog, I share recent findings from the European Congress on Obesity, discuss how they relate to the 4th of July, and outline what I think it will take to turn the tide on the global obesity pandemic.

Susan, I have felt from “day 1” of hearing your message of hope that you are a truly visionary, and are ahead of the game on many respects with regards to improving our lives , our communities, our nation and the world . Its for those that want it, and it starts by being open to something different than what we’ve been doing our entire lives that has failed time and time again- moderation. I hope to see this happen also. xoxo

I believe that the commercial food executives and their accomplices who created this epidemic deserve the same stigma that we reserve for child molesters. “Free enterprise made me do it,” is no excuse and the environment controlling what people do makes the concept of freedom irrelevant. To me, Coke, Kellogg, Hardee’s, etc are more disgusting to put in my mouth than excrement and I won’t go near it.

There are changes happening already. My first event shortly after starting BLE in June 2017 was a family wedding. I thought I was going to be the only person at the table saying No to wedding cake. To my surprise, fully half the table said No, thank you, when the cake was served.

And when I eat out, I can just about always get a side of steamed vegetables or (at breakfast) a beautiful fresh fruit plate. There has to be a demand already there for these foods for them to be so readily available at a broad range of restaurants.

When I was eating out on a regular basis while traveling with my sister, by the time we were halfway through our trip she began ordering a side of steamed vegetables for herself, too, because what I was eating looked so good.

I’m not disagreeing with what she has said. We the ppl have to take responsibility. But we need to be aware all of the fronts we are fighting on and so I would add a few layers to what she just said. She may even go over these things in other videos. I haven’t been watching her videos very long but what I have seen she has had some wise thoughts.
One additional problem is healthier food is more expensive and for every person who can afford it there is at least one who can’t afford it. This needs to be overcome also. Another problem is that the government subsidizes some of the worst foods which is one reason companies use them. This needs to be overcome too. A third problem is that with both adults working in most households their is a time crunch when it comes to preparing healthy food instead of relying on fast food/processed food. This too needs to be overcome.
For myself, it takes no extra money to quit eating sugar laden sweets such as cake, pie, even pancakes with syrup and sugar cereals and I have taken this step. I have also started packing a pb&j to eat in the morning when I get off work instead of fast food when i’m staying in town to do errands. I’ve got more steps in mind to take, but I will be unable to take some steps that i’d like to take for right now.

Hi, Susan–very intelligent, thoughtful and provocative talk. It is incredibly distressing to me, as someone who now has his eating under control but who didn’t always, to see what the corporations are doing to the people of the world in the name of profit. That’s bad enough, but it’s being subsidized by the government that is supposed to be protecting us!
I agree, it will need to be an individual change, and a whole lot of them, before society changes. Perhaps the direction will come from the whole foods plant based movement (which is my frame of reference). There is a growing concern with the environmental consequences of the Standard American Diet, and the plant based movement is growing by leaps and bounds–so who knows where that will lead?
But then today, I saw on Facebook where a friend of mine, who is undergoing breast cancer, speaks of looking forward to the beef brisket her husband is preparing on the barbecue…what is even more disturbing is that she is aware of the diet/illness connection. Sadly, we all have our own versions of blinders we wear.

You want to be a public speaker. Every other word is um, ah, ya know., Right… you murder the english language…please invest in some speech lessons! You need to correct this! Too painful to listen to um, um, um,ah…

She is not a public speaker, she is a vbloger, and this is altogether a different cookie, ie a cookie without sugar and all that gloss on the outside. If you aware of the new ways people want to communicate and eat then you should know that content and authenticity is way more attractive than all those polished public speaking skills that make a message feel fake just like the foods she is talking about.

You my dear are extremely rude. Her talk is so informative to those who have the brains to hear her message. What a simple minded person you are to point out your opinion on speech etiquette. You on the other hand could use some investment on learning how not to be sarcastic and rude! Both have no good message!

Potatoes – Potatoes are approximately $.77 – $.89 /lb Vegetable oil is appx $.08 -$.10 per ounce. A bag of potato chips is appx. $3.50 (on sale) for a 9oz bag. Let’s simplify apples and oranges to ounces and cents. Add/divide/multiply and we have potato chips at appx $6.22/lb and your homemade potato chips (sliced finely, drizzled with 2oz of oil and baked) come in at appx $1.00 + 5 min of electricity. So, convenience adds about $5.00 more to those potatoes. It is the same with all convenience food, even frozen vegetables or frozen fruits usually cost more than their fresh counterparts. The fresh, certified organic fruits and vegetables have no additives, no preservatives that could cause medical problems later on. Even if the fresh and the pre-sliced, cooked, pre-prepared cost the same – my vote is on the original, God-invented food. As Jack Lalanne used to say “If man made it, don’t eat it!” Pretty wise counsel from an amazing role model.

Thank you Susan for all you are doing! Your weekly vlogs keep me fighting. I’ve lost 30 lbs. since Feb. 1st. and am now at goal weight. The real battle starts now, however, because I’ve started to slack off here and there. I had a bite of ice cream today, and felt ill afterwords. It truly is poison.

The question of ” inordinate” time that is needed to prepare healthy foods has been raised. When one does such calculations, I think it would behoove her to consider the following:
* If eating unhealthy foods means that one may die at 75, whereas
* If eating healthy foods prepared at home would increase longevity to 95, then
* Think of how much food can be prepared with the added 20 years.

Potatoes – Potatoes are approximately $.77 – $.89 /lb Vegetable oil is appx $.08 -$.10 per ounce. A bag of potato chips is appx. $3.50 (on sale) for a 9oz bag. Let’s simplify apples and oranges to ounces and cents. Add/divide/multiply and we have potato chips at appx $6.22/lb and your homemade potato chips (sliced finely, drizzled with 2oz of oil and baked) come in at appx $1.00 + 5 min of electricity. So, convenience adds about $5.00 more to those potatoes. It is the same with all convenience food, even frozen vegetables or frozen fruits usually cost more than their fresh counterparts. The fresh, certified organic fruits and vegetables have no additives, no preservatives that could cause medical problems later on. Even if the fresh and the pre-sliced, cooked, pre-prepared cost the same – my vote is on the original, God-invented food. As Jack Lalanne used to say “If man made it, don’t eat it!” Pretty wise counsel from an amazing role model.

Dear Sunshine, One could be even more economical and healthy. Vegetable oil adds zero nutrients to a meal. So save the 2 oz. of oil and use the 16-20 cents to buy another potato! Potato slices taste terrific baked without any oil. Other relatively inexpensive, healthy foods that are widely available are bananas and apples. Dried beans, lentils, and peas are a real bargain if cooked at home. The high fiber feeds our good gut bacteria and helps prevent obesity and diabetes by lowering blood sugar levels for hours after the meal at which they are eaten. These pulses are a low-glycemic food. You are right that some whole, real foods are much cheaper than many packaged convenience foods.

As I recall, it was primarily a 1964 US government’s Surgeon General’s report that radically altered the public’s beliefs about smoking. By 1970 advertisements for tobacco on tv and radio had been banned, and eventually the price of cigarettes soared, primarily due to taxes.

Perhaps what we really need now is a special Surgeon General’s report on the health effects of eating highly processed foods, followed by a ban on tv and radio advertisements and ultimately stiff taxes, making it a lot cheaper to buy healthy natural ingredients and prepare food at home, the way it was for everyone back in the 1950 before processed foods became widely available. Not likely to happen during the present administration, but who knows what the next administration may bring.

Great topic. It seems like more and more people are waking up to the role food plays in health and longevity, but changing an eating habit in a culture where food is constantly shoved in your face is no easy matter. What a shift has occurred within my lifetime when there were maybe a handful of overweight kids in our entire school – if that. I actually remember the names of the heavy kids because there were so few of them that they stood out in my mind. They were rare. Now, a significant percentage of kids in any school are overweight/obese and at such a young age. It’s sad. David Kessler’s book, ‘Overcoming Overeating’ does a great job describing how all this came about.

Also we need to consider how much of good food is actually wasted and all that fancy glossy packaging to catch the eye of a beholder. It’s a huge mess we are into, but it’s worth fighting . We owe it to the Earth.

I think you could also use as an analogy the fact that obesity is to others and to society just as deleterious as second hand smoke in that it jeopardizes my personal financial health so to speak. As a healthcare provider I see patients all day long who are overweight , morbidly obese, sometimes grotesquely obese and it is the source of their joint pain , depression, diabetes , hypertension , hyperlipidemia and sometimes even their autoimmune disease and inflammation (ex. Psoriasis ) . Yet virtually all of my obese. patients accept no culpability. They have no sense of personal responsibility for their obesity— which is the result of their own choices and behaviors . They want me to give them a pill to make it go away. Or they want society to pay for a new knee , or electric wheelchair, their drugs, their disability and so on. I’m tired of the selfishness of it all and I don’t want to enable this any longer.

Andrea, you would do well to read Dr. Thompson’s book: Bright Line Eating, or watch her vlogs on the neurological connections of addictive eating. It’s the core of her message. It’s not so much about personal responsibility. People aren’t fat because they’re lazy or irresponsible. There’s a lot of science behind Dr. Thompson’s thesis.

Exactly, Joseph. Shaming addicts into recovery is the least effective way of changing behavior. In fact, study after study has shown that shaming and insulting and blaming addicts sends them right back into their addictive eating behaviors. The holier-than-thou attitude is ineffective, immature, and exhausting to wade through. Let’s leave this kind of toxic attitude behind and get down to the real work of helping heal addiction with compassion and empathy.

Shaming addicts into recovery is the least effective way of changing behavior. In fact, study after study has shown that shaming and insulting and blaming addicts sends them right back into their addictive eating behaviors. The holier-than-thou attitude is ineffective, immature, and exhausting to wade through. Let’s leave this kind of toxic attitude behind and get down to the real work of helping heal addiction with compassion and empathy.

The client is the king was a credo of shops and buisness when I was a kid. Clients are stakeholders of a buisness. So are shareholders. So is the environent. The state they are in. The suppliers are stakeholders. The people working in a business are stakholders. Susan says its legal to care for just one stakeholder, namely the shareholder. Buisness is drained of its money to pay the stakeholders. Clients are artificially forcefed instead of bein treated as a worthy stakeholder. The environment is intoxicated to gain maximal profits for the shareholders. But nature and animals should be a constant supply. As long as we are agreeing with it being legal to take as much money and resources out of the buisness for the sake of the shareholders ignoring all other stakeholders the bill is never correct. Some numbers are rising: the income of the shareholders, the toxic load of nature and humans, the body weight of clients of the food industry. It’s a good idea of Susan to look at it from another perspective. But please don’t forget the big picture!

You are absolutely correct Susan and it will take people like you (and a few more), to get this message out there.
I hope one day soon too those fake foods will be classified as poison.
Keep up your great work.
Thank you.

I am with you!
I LOVE this way of eating and feel so healthy. My doctor is blown away!
I can run with my grandchildren!
My friends are watching me and are beginning to make changes too.
People are so sick and tired they are ready for something that really works.
I shall be 70 this year.
Thank you so much.
Keep up the GREAT work.

Truer words have not been spoken! You are spot on with your example of the cigarette industry and now the food industry. I can’t tell you how many times I am at a gathering when I encounter people who really want to or know they need to change their eating habits and they feel absolutely helpless. They literally don’t know what to eat. Even dear friends who for medical reasons have had to change the way they eat will nearly scream at me, “So what I am I supposed to eat if I don’t eat. . .this. . .or this. . for breakfast?” When I explain, they feel it is impossible. After several weeks, they thank me for setting them on the right course. Their bodies don’t ache like they used to. Their brain fog is gone. Then they are finally open to more in-depth knowledge.

I, too, want to be around to see this industry completely changed!
Carry on!!!

Great blog. Why is it socially acceptable for people to say, “I don’t drink, alcohol”, but we are given a rebuff when we say ” I don’t eat sugar, flour or unhealthy fats”? Have you noticed that on tv shows like Scandal, How to get away with Murder, Greys anatomy, etc have young women drinking wine after work or to relax.? We are marketing alcohol the same way that cigarettes and drinking were marketed in the 50’s and 60’s, to men. It wasn’t unusual to have alcohol at work, ie mad men. We need to acknowledge that food addiction and obesity are just as dangerous as marketing cigarettes and alcohol, but do not only affect ourselves, but our health care systems as well. Everyone in the population will then be affected, when health care costs skyrocket. We need a Me Too type of movement against the junk food industries.

Thank you Susan. Great vlog as usual!! You’re right it has to start by yourself. Like you told us BLE is for people who wants to do it not for those who needs it. Till you live this way and realise all the benefits, body wise. It’s not hard, not to eat flour and Sugar. it just makes sense !!!

Just heard a news story recognizing the 70th anniversary of the British NHS, July 5th. Predictably, the first part spoke of how it increased health and lifespan of many it served for decades. Also predictably, NHS is now facing financial challenges, with an elderly population suffering from chronic diseases and conditions – obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease – among others that we KNOW can be “treated” and even prevented with whole, plant-based foods – the BLE/WFPB “prescription” for saying farewell to junk food/Standard American (becoming global) Diet. The NHS is the 5th largest organization/institution (?) in the world (and IS the largest UK employer) – so, with people like you, Susan, and BLE, maybe lots of those employees will lead the way in saying, as you suggested, “We’ve got the answer, right over here!” The BLE and WFPB communities really are crucial, so let’s keep speaking and showing up, especially to our doctors. =) “Keep hope alive!” And thanks, again!

It is especially true that government will not offer solutions, since legislators are beholden to the various food lobbies. The old maxim is that our “leaders” don’t really lead at all…..but where the people lead, the “leaders” will follow (although only when forced to do so by their own self-interests).

On top of everything Susan has said, new parents have got to stop allowing their children to eat crap from day one. Whatever it takes. No exceptions. I know this is tough, but it’s necessary to break the cycle. Otherwise it will be a viscous circle.

I agree Leslie, but I also believe that the self worth of children and their self esteem need to be enhanced with true actions and accomplishments supported by the parents. Too much of the “you deserve it just because” mentality must go by the wayside and be replaced with true education in the schools. Kindergarten aged children do not need “sex ed” as much as they need to understand health and fitness along with good nutrition. Nutrition was not taught when I was growing up and could have been a good platform for long term general knowledge.

This is so powerful! If you think about it the BLE movement could possible save the world. If processed and fast foods are no longer profitable then, A. We’d have a lot less garbage, B. We’d use a lot less fuel trucking food all over the place. C. Small farmers might again make a living therefor organic foods become more affordable which would effect so much, and D. Healthy people-more affordable health care and on and on.
Who’d have imagined the ripple effect that BLE might cause. I want to encourge you to up your goal. Let’s get the word spread more quickly (the 100th monkey!). Every day I see more and more people reaching their goal weight. What if these folks spoke at local group and spread the word about BLE. Perhaps your team could put out lecture material ( I know no one is like you SPT), but folks could talk about their journey, show before and after and give the #’s of how many of us there are having success, then they can just give 14 day challenge link.
I’m so excited about this!

Such an important vlog for all Americans to watch.
It’s not only the food companies that have to shift, it’s also restaurants. At a time when so many people are obese, I continue to see restaurants serving 12 ounces (or more) of cheeseburgers on doughnuts, slathered with bacon and many, many other indulgent, very over-sized offerings.

Sad to say all that I eat is poisoned, the package food , breads, pasta , etc and then when I go to change all that, I can not afford to eat veggies and fruit that are all organic, so the ones I can eat are full of poison. I have a very small seniors pension , so money is a big issue for me and many others are in the same boat ..kinda scary when it comes to eating fruit and veg for me, because of all the chemical they spray on them ,Wish they would stop. The only thing that I did buy that was organic, is a bag of organic quinoa.. Susan,even though I can not do your program I really enjoy listening to you.. so much good information . Thank you for doing this .

Thank you for this vlog, and especially for discussing the power we’ve handed over to corporations. Now that I’m in a right-size body, and having dealt with my food addictions, I see food addiction everywhere, in otherwise intelligent, educated people AND in folks who may need some instruction in basic nutrition. The knowledge that obesity is a food addiction issue is not well understood by the public; the notion that food addiction actually exists is commonly rejected. I can’t thank SPT and BLE enough for my awareness and understanding of food addiction and for the profound health I’m experiencing as a result of my BLE transformation. It’s amazing how deeply people accept their obesity and reject putting any effort into overcoming it. These are the biggest blockades I’ve experienced in talking with folks about my BLE experience: changing eating culture is too much work, the general notion of food addiction is not “palatable”, and the notion of an immutable, overweight/obese life is something one should resign oneself to (successes such as mine are necessarily the rare exception). It’s very frustrating. I have connected with a few people and that brings me joy. I know there will be, at some point, dare I say, a “critical mass” of us. We’re not there quite yet. It’s coming!

I remember candy cigarrettes and also people smoking in airplanes, some people right now cannot believe those things actually happened lol…. thanks for your vlogs they always have something very positive and interesting to hear and take away to think about.

Thanks for this vlog. I agree. May I add: What the US is exporting is not just the processed foods, but the lifestyle with it: no time to sit down for a real meal, stress at work, isolation of the individual. The psychology of overeating is important, too. Why am I a 10 on the food addiction scale and my brother (exposed to the same food for the first 18 years of our life) not? — Genes, epigenetics, traumatic experiences? I wish I knew.
I hope your vision, Susan, comes true: unhealthy, chemical foods should be unpopular enough to not be produced anymore. Walking through our largest supermarket in town I realize that 90% of the stuff they sell is neither food nor drink.

I have $5 to spend on food. For $5 I can buy 4 apples or go to McDonalds and get a full meal or I can buy a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter.
I am hungry really hungry and 4 apples just will not satisfy. If I am poor the cost of healthy whole food is prohibitive. My children cannot live on 4 apples but they can live on peanut butter sandwiches.

I have a friend who is morbidly obese. Her doctor wants her to have bariatric surgery she doesn’t want to but she will not commit
to eating healthy. Her biggest obstacle is giving up her lemonade addiction. She actually told me she was terrified of having the surgery
and if I flat out told her if I were you so would I. Committing to following a healthy way of eating is hard and if you weigh so much that standing
up to prepare food is an effort, then fast foods and restaurants are where you will eat.

Thank you Susan for helping so many to change their lives – including me. I think the more we continue to educate and have people understand there is a better way – the better off we will all be as a society and community. You have certainly changed my life and one you “know”, you can’t “unknow”. Thank GOD, I now know they way to freedom. I’m certainly behind you and try to talk to so many who have asked about my transformation. I never push but certainly have expressed there is a better way. Some are intrigued and others remain blind-folded. In any event, I thank GOD and BLE every single day for the life I have found. Thank you Dr. SPT. Thank you.

As a nurse ,many people ask me about the future costs of healthcare. My answer is “ until the food industry changes and people stop eating processed food, the cost of healthcare will continue to sky rocket. “ It saddens me to realize that most people have no clue what I am implying. Keep sharing the BLE story and we will reach the BLE vision.

Susan, I work in the food industry by demonstrating food products. I watch customers coming into the store and could honestly say that 50 percent are obese. I watch them shoving food into the mouths of babies that are not hungry but are developing poor eating habits. I see small children that are wide as they are tall, and I say to myself how sorry do I feel that these are the future generation of obese adults. I myself was chubby as a child but grew into my teens slender and I have to admit glacially pretty and this made me self conscious of my weight. I struggled as many said but keeping my weight down to normal was always a challenge. I believe that it is self esteem which needs to be developed in children and adults to accomplish this goal. I also must say that a lot of us fail to accomplish goals that we set as young adults and disappointments lead to frustration and the only solution becomes a treat. Heartbreak is another episode that needs mending so that you look forward to new beginnings. Some of us never get over these tragedies therefore get an attitude well I don’t care anymore. One of your blogs should address self consciousness, disappointments, tragedies, and heartbreak that can upset the chemicals in our bodies that we are content by overeating.